Join Dr. Jodie on December 15th at noon on 570 News. Don't miss our one day show special featuring UltraShape a new technology available in Canada. Call in with your questions.

Look for Illumination Laser Medical Specials on the 570 News Insider Web Site and in the CHYM VIP Store!

On Thanksgiving weekend Dr. Jodie provided the community with inforamtion about the cues of aging and what you can do to combat sun damage, poor texture, volume loss and skin laxticity.

Dr. Jodie provided information to the public about the latest in skin care technology to 570 News listening audience in January 2007.

On July 14, 2007 Dr. Jodie spoke about sun damage and what to do to improve the look of your skin after years of sun exposure. Call us to find out how to make those brown and red spots disapear!

Here is the transcript of the show from July 14th.

Dave:  Today we have with us again Dr. Jodie Wang of Illumination Laser Medical Associates in Kitchener.  Thanks for joining us today, Dr. Jodie! Dr.

J: My pleasure, Dave, it is great to be back on 570 NEWS!

Dave: And today we are going to be talking with Dr. Jodie about a topic which is on everyone's mind these days, and that is SUN SAFETY!  Dr. J: That's right, and here we are in the middle of a sunny/rainy July weekend, so it is something which every body is concerned about.  We hear a lot about the sun and its harmful rays, but then we also hear about vitamin D and how Canadians are all deficient in this because we don't get enough sunlight, and we are all alarmed about global warming and the ozone layer, so there is a lot to untangle in the next hour!  

Dave:  Absolutely, I know that we are hearing about these issues a lot in the media, and kids are learning about it in school, and everybody is a bit scared of the sun.

Dr. Jodie:  And yet by the same token, here we are in a country which is cold a lot of the year, here in this part of Ontario we have a lot of grey winter days and a lot of smoggy summer days when we CAN'T get outside, so it is just not reasonable to think that we are all going to sit indoors when we have a beautiful summer day in front of us.

Dave: We all love the beach!

Dr. Jodie: Of course we do, and I love the beach too.  You know the oldest 6 of my 9 kids play hockey, and we clocked 530 ice times in an arena this past season, so you'd better believe that I love it when I can get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine and sand instead of sitting on a frozen bleacher huddled under a blanket!   

Dave: I can't even imagine! 

Dr. Jodie:  well, so what I want to let people know about is how to enjoy the sun in a safe manner.   As you know, I have worked alongside a dermatologist for 13 years now, and I can completely appreciate that skin cancers are definitely common in our community, and in fact, they remain the most common type of cancers diagnosed in Canadians.  In one generation alone, skin cancer has increased by 200 percent in the Canadian population!   Every year Canadian doctors diagnose about 72,500 cases of skin cancer alone! 

Dave: That is scary!  And all of these are dangerous types of cancer? 

Dr. Jodie: The number one type is Basal cell carcinoma, and that is not an aggressive cancer but is rather a slow growing, localized cancer which grows in areas where the body has had long-standing sun damage.  The ears, the nose, and the neck are really common locations for this type of cancer, and so are the forearms and hands.  It definitely needs removal and treatment, but it is not a kind that will spread internally. 

Dave: so in a sense, it is a GOOD cancer to get!

Dr. Jodie: that's right Dave, if you had to choose a type of cancer to get, that would be a good choice, because it is slow-growing, easy to diagnose, and removing it completely treats it.  

Dave: but there are other types of skin cancer also?

Dr. Jodie:  There is another type of skin cancer called squamous cell cancer, and that is more dangerous because on occasion it does spread to the internal organs:  in those cases it can be fatal.  It would be about as dangerous as breast cancer, so you can appreciate that it is pretty serious. 

Dave: that is pretty sobering! Dr. Jodie: and then the skin cancer that we definitely are seeing more of, and that we see in young people, is Malignant Melanoma. 

Dave: and that is a bad type of skin cancer, right?

Dr. Jodie: definitely a very, very serious disease.  It is the kind that usually, but not always, evolves in moles.  And in contrast to the other two types of skin cancer, it is not related to long-standing, chronic sun damage, but more to short intense bursts of sun, like we get when we take a winter getaway or a cruise.  

Dave: So how do we protect ourselves against these types of cancer? 

Dr. Jodie: well, the first thing is to be smart about the sun, and these are all things we have heard about before.  Try to avoid the sun and stay indoors or in the shade between 11 and 2! 

Dave: that's pretty hard with kids!

Dr. Jodie: well, we work it out that we have lunch inside or on our shaded deck at that time, and our kids may take a break and watch a video or play a bit of hockey in our basement.  After all, just cause it's summer doesn't mean that Canadians take a break from hockey! 

Dave: I guess you're right there! 

Dr. Jodie: Another rule is to try your best to be good about sunscreen.  The lowest recommended SPF from Health Canada is 15, but you won't find many doctors in the skin care field who will let you wear anything less than a 30.  Bruce Abbey, who is the dermatologist I have worked alongside for twelve years, makes all his patients wear a 30 SPF year round, even in the winter! 

Dave: Isn't it hard to get kids, and adults too, for that matter, to always keep putting on sunscreen?

Dr. Jodie: Well, Dave, it's all a matter of training.  Remember when you and I were kids, no one wore a bike helmet, seat belts were optional, and there was Guy Lafleur and all those NHL guys on our TV screens zooming up and down the ice with their hair flying!  Today none of us would dream of letting our kids play hockey or go biking without a helmet, so it is all a matter of getting into a good habit. 

Dave:  I find it a bit baffling, when I go to the store, seeing all the varieties of sunscreen on the shelves.  What do all those numbers mean, and how do we make a good choice of sunscreen?  

Dr. Jodie:  Sunscreens in Canada are only labeled with regards to how much UVB rays they block out.  The number means how many minutes with the product it will take you to get one minute's worth of sun damage if you went out with bare skin.  So an SPF of 15 means that it will take you 15 min to get one minute of UV damage.  And an SPF of 60 means you will need an hour to get that minute of sun damage.  

Dave: So the higher the number, the better? 

Dr. Jodie: absolutely, Dave, but it is also important to look for UVA coverage on the label.  Canadian regulations don't require UVA to be mentioned, but while UVB rays cause the more serious cancer risk, the UVA rays contribute to premature skin aging and do also have a hand in long term skin damage and cancer risk.    A good idea is to check the label for a little symbol from the Canadian Dermatology Association , meaning it is a safe choice with both adequate UVA and UVB protection. 

Dave:  Are there other ways to protect ourselves, if we are going to be out during those peak hours, and we won't be in the shade? 

Dr. Jodie: there sure are.  Make sure that you reapply sunscreen frequently, and use adequate amounts.  A lot of people don't use enough, or put it on frequently enough.  Some people feel that because they put on a SPF 60 first thing in the morning, it will protect them all day, and that is just not adequate!  Every 90 min or so it should be reapplied, even if you have not been in the water, as we sweat it off and rub it off. 

Dave:  What about clothing?

Dr. Jodie: The more we are covered up, obviously the better protected we are.  There are a lot of types of clothing which cover our skin but can be in light, breezy fabrics, and they can certainly cut down on the UV that we are getting.  And a hat is always a good idea, and by that I don't mean a baseball cap, I mean a nice gardening type hat with a wide brim.  We shouldn't forget about our eyes, either, Dave, and should always pop on those sunglasses which have been rated for both UVA and UVB protection. 

Dave: And on those cloudy, smoggy days, do we need to worry as much? 

Dr. Jodie: Unfortunately, Dave, we do need to worry, as clouds only block about 15 percent of the UV radiation, not enough to help protect us in a significant way. 

Dave: What about the statement you always hear, "I'm getting a tan to help protect my skin against the sun?"  You hear people say that before they are going down south in the winter.  

Dr. Jodie: Well, Dave, you've hit upon one of the statements which drives most doctors crazy, because a tan does NOT protect you against sun damage, and in fact is EVIDENCE that you have already undergone UV damage, because the skin darkens IN RESPONSE TO DAMAGE!   It's a bit like saying, I'm going to light a bonfire in my living room, but just a little one, to help me prepare against a major fire.  

Dave: But isn't it true that darker skin does have better protection against ultraviolet?  

Dr. Jodie: A tan will give you about the equivalent of an SPF 2 or 4, so not enough to give you significant protection.   Even people with Asian or African skin can get burned, and even get melanomas. 

Dave: Isn't it true that we need a certain amount of sun for our skin to make vitamin D? 

Dr. Jodie: We certainly do, but we synthesize enough vitamin D just from the bits of skin we typically forget to sunscreen, like the backs of our neck and our hands.  Health Canada has recently recommended that we all supplement our diets with 1000 IU of vitamin D per day, but no one is suggesting that we cook ourselves more in the sun.  The damage would far outweigh any benefit we might get from an increase in vitamin D systhesis, so don't be misled!  

Dave: That's a good point! So if our listeners have already spent a lot of time in the sun, as many of us have, what should we be looking for?

Dr. Jodie: It is a good idea to check your skin regularly, and have a partner or friend look at our backs, and the backs of our necks and legs, and our scalp, to check for any abnormalities.

Dave: And what kinds of things should we be looking for?

Dr. Jodie:  Anything that bleeds, or any sore that doesn't heal in a reasonable time period.  Any patch of skin which looks or feels rough, or looks different from the surrounding skin. Any mole which has changed. We also have a little acronym called ABCDE which helps doctors evaluate moles to see if they are dangerous.   A is for Asymmetry, meaning the shape is not symmetrical; B for border, meaning the border is uneven or bumpy, or the pigment looks like it has spilled over the edge of the mole; C is for color, and by that we are looking for a variance in color, meaning one part of the mole is darker, lighter, or a different color than the rest: D is for diameter, and we would say anything over 5-6 mm, or anything which has grown and increased its diameter; and E is for evolution, and by that we look especially closely at any lesion which has changed in any one or more of those ways.  

Dave: so what would be the next step if we find something worrisome?

Dr. Jodie: anything on our skin which we are not sure about we should have evaluated by a physician.  If you doctor has any concerns, he or she would normally refer you to a dermatologist or sometimes a plastic surgeon to have a biopsy done.  That way any suspicious lesions can be thoroughly evaluated.  

Dave: Aside from actual skin cancers, what are signs that we have damaged our skin from the sun?

Dr. Jodie: the number one indicator that we have done permanent damage to our skin is the premature aging to our skin, which may cause fine lines and wrinkles, a crepey texture to our skin, that bumpy chicken-skin texture which is especially common on the neck, and sun spots which are brown discolored splotches on the face or arms or any sun-damaged areas. 

Dave: So once you have that damage, you are stuck with it? 

Dr. Jodie: Fortunately, no!  Laser technology has advanced in the past few years and has come up with some remarkable remedies to help skin reverse photo aging.  For example, IPL is a common procedure, which stands for Intense Pulsed Light, which uses a flashlamp with a very short wavelength to remove the superficial sun spots, in a quick procedure which is very comfortable and takes 10 to 15 mins for each of 3 procedures which are done 2 to 4 weeks apart.  

Dave: And what about the wrinkles and lines and damaged texture?

Dr. Jodie: We approach that with a procedure called Laser Genesis, which takes about 45 min and we use the laser light to penetrate into the second layer of the skin, the superficial dermis, and the laser gently stimulates new collagen to grow.  This helps plump up the skin and give it a fuller texture, lessens wrinkles, and gives it a further protection against aging.  That procedure is similar to IPL in that it can be done every 2 to 4 weeks for a session of 3 treatments, and the two can be very successfully combined into one appointment in which we are helping to reverse the photo aging which has happened to the skin. 

Dave: It sounds pretty high tech!

Dr. Jodie: Well, it is very advanced technology, and we are very proud at Illumination Laser Medical Associates to be the first providers of the world-class Cutera laser system to Waterloo Region.   All of our procedures are carried out by myself as the physician or my Registered Nurse, and it is very important that something as potentially serious as sun damage be treated by medical professionals who can also evaluate the skin for any signs of early skin cancer.  

Dave:  It would be a great idea to have a physician evaluate your skin before a treatment.

Dr. Jodie: Absolutely, and at Illumination Laser I personally see and evaluate every client before any treatment of sun damage starts, so anything suspicious is immediately referred on to a dermatologist for further evaluation.

Dave: And are there other things we can do for damaged skin?

Dr. Jodie: There are advanced medical grade cosmeceuticals which we carry in our office, which help from the surface in fighting aging and reversing the signs of sun damage.  They can be used alone, but of course work best when combined with treatments with the laser, which give a more powerful approach as the skin is being treated topically while also being stimulated to regenerate from the dermal layer.  The results people get are really remarkable, and our clients are really pleased.    

Dave:  Is there anything that this new technology can offer to older people who have really severely damaged their skin over the years?

Dr. Jodie: we are able to offer our clients a state of the art treatment called Levulan therapy, which is a well-documented treatment for a condition called Actinic Keratoses, in which many years of sun damage have left multiple little areas of pre-cancerous skin cells on sun exposed areas.  In the past all we had to offer these patients was to burn the lesions off with electrocautery or freeze them off with liquid nitrogen, but now we can treat the face and affected areas with a chemical called levulan which sits on the skin for an hour while the client reads a magazine or relaxes, then we activate the chemical with the IPL light and it works over the next two weeks to peel off the premalignant cells.  This treatment is well studied in the medical literature, but has not been commonly accessible in this part of Ontario until now.  

Dave: Well, we have certainly covered a lot of territory today!  It sounds like you have been doing a lot of exciting things at Illumination Laser Medical Associates to help people in our Region combat sun damage and photo aging!!!!

Dr. Jodie:  Yes, being able to offer state of the art, award-winning technology to clients in our Region is really satisfying!  Just seeing the look on our client's faces when they see their damaged, aged skin repair and restore itself is really gratifying.  

Dave: And for the listeners of today's show, there is a special offer?

Dr. Jodie: Yes, right through until the end of July we have a special on IPL photo facials, which are normally a session of 3 for $1000, but are now $800.  And of course as always at Illumination Laser Medical Associates, a consultation and skin assessment with myself is absolutely free.  

Dave: Well, we thank you so much for being on our show today, I think you have dispelled a lot of myths and helped all of us feel more confident about enjoying the sun this summer!